Inside the rest cabin were spacesuits that the astronauts had changed out of, and Su Muran took one and put it on.

"By the way, why are there candles here?" Zhang Fan asked, pointing to the burnt-out wax marks on the conference table.

Isn't it normal to light candles during ancestral worship?

"I mean, how come there are candle-making tools here?"

“Oh, that’s fat,” Su Muran replied simply.

"Fat...?" Zhang Fan stared wide-eyed, speechless. The events here were constantly shattering his worldview.

“Weren’t you curious about that flag?” Su Muran pointed to the black sun-eye flag hanging on the bulkhead. “The flag’s material and the candles on the table actually come from the same source.”

vomit--

Zhang Fan vomited. He had specifically gone close to smell the flag and altar when he arrived.

"That's normal," Su Muran said casually. "It seems you should brush up on your knowledge of human sociology. When people commit extreme crimes, it's perfectly normal for them to seek justification for their actions and psychological comfort through religion."

"And judging from the size of that flag, you should know that this kind of sacrificial ceremony has been performed more than once."

Zhang Fan just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

Su Muran led Zhang Fan to the node module, outside of which was the "Firebird" lander, "Feather".

“If you’ve searched the entire cabin and haven’t found anyone else,” Su Muran said, pointing to the “Feather” outside the cabin, “Bob should be inside.”

"How did you know?" Zhang Fan asked curiously.

“Before I went into hibernation, I made a non-aggression pact with him,” Su Muran said. “I will not interfere with anything he does inside ‘Firebird,’ and at the same time, he cannot interfere with my affairs.”

"What does this have to do with the present?" Zhang Fan still didn't understand.

“Because I also clearly told him that I would plant a bomb inside the living quarters.” Su Muran was already turning the hatch of the node. “If he doesn’t abide by the agreement and tries to approach me while I’m in hibernation, he’ll have to do the same thing you did before.”

Zhang Fan understood now: "So he needs to pilot the 'Feather' to open the hatch of the No. 2 living quarters from the outside."

The node hatch connecting to the "Feather" lander was already open. Su Muran waved her hand, letting Zhang Fan go in first.

"You're a man, and you have a knife in your hand, you can't back down."

What else could Zhang Fan say? He could only grit his teeth and walk through the hatch into the "Feather" landing module...

A person wearing a spacesuit was sitting in the cockpit of the landing module.

Zhang Fan's entire body was on edge. Su Muran followed shortly after, but she was much calmer and even sniffed the air in the driver's cab.

"Don't be afraid, he should have been dead for a long time." Su Muran patted Zhang Fan on the back to help him relax. "It's a good thing you didn't chicken out and came in right away, otherwise I would have looked down on you for the rest of my life."

Zhang Fan cautiously walked forward, reached the pilot's seat, glanced at the astronaut, and was still startled.

The astronaut was dead; only a shriveled corpse remained inside his spacesuit. From the features of the corpse, Zhang Fan could still recognize that this was the astronaut Bob who had been pinned to the ground and rubbed against the ground by the gorilla Bob.

How do you know he's dead?

“Because it was me.” Su Muran also stepped forward. “Before the hibernation, I secretly installed a small device on the ‘Feather’. If someone tries to activate the ‘Feather’, the poison gas in the device will be released. This poison gas is colorless and odorless. People who are poisoned will become drowsy until they die, without any pain.”

Zhang Fan immediately covered his mouth and nose.

"Don't worry." Su Muran rolled her eyes at him. "This synthetic poison gas has a time limit. After being exposed to the air for a few days, it will slowly be oxidized into a harmless gas."

Su Muran stepped forward and carefully observed Bob in the driver's seat.

“He’s not Bob,” Su Muran suddenly said.

"No?" Zhang Fan was stunned. He looked at it again carefully, but it clearly looked like Bob.

There were 10 astronauts on the Firebird, so even if they were corpses, they would be easy to distinguish.

“It really isn’t.” Su Muran shook her head. “Or rather, it’s not the original Bob. Bob had a tattoo under his right ear, but this ‘person’ doesn’t.”

Following Su Muran's finger, Zhang Fan discovered that this "Bob" really didn't have a tattoo under his right ear.

"There are two Bobs?" Zhang Fan felt that what was happening on the Firebird was becoming increasingly difficult to understand using common sense.

"You could say that," Su Muran suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Have you noticed that the experimental materials inside 'Firebird' have been almost completely used up?"

"Yes! What kind of experiment would require so many materials?" Zhang Fan had long found it strange that such a scientific experiment would consume almost all the materials from the life support cabin, medical cabin, and scientific research cabin.

“A clone,” Su Muran replied.

"A clone?" Zhang Fan's eyes widened.

Even with the advanced cloning technology available before the New Age, human cloning was still prohibited internationally. One issue was social ethics, but more importantly, cloned individuals often suffered from intellectual disabilities or various congenital diseases, and typically died within a year from illness or organ failure.

There are very few successful examples.

"I think he succeeded."

"Why would he clone people for no reason?" Zhang Fan asked, puzzled. "Is it because he's lonely and wants someone to chat with?"

"What else can we do?" Su Muran looked at Zhang Fan as if he were an idiot. "Didn't I tell you? 'Firebird' has run out of food."

A chill ran down Zhang Fan's spine, and he dared not reply.

“However, adult clones inherit all the memories of the original, so as you saw…” Su Muran pointed to the deceased Bob, “he won.”

Zhang Fan felt a chill run down his spine.

“But that’s not necessarily true, after all, so many research materials have been used up.” Su Muran thought for a moment and said, “Maybe he’s a second or third generation.”

vomit--

Zhang Fan couldn't stand it; as expected, none of the women who came to Mars were simple.

"Professor Su, is there anywhere else you want to go?" Zhang Fan felt uncomfortable staying here.

“It’s gone. But we can’t leave him here.” Su Muran pointed to “Bob”.

"What do you want?" Zhang Fan asked in terror. "I don't eat zombie meat."

"What are you saying? As if I'd eat it!" Su Muran slapped Zhang Fan angrily. "They're inhuman, and we can't be inhuman either. Whatever he did in his life, he's dead now. Let's bury him; it's the least we can do to respect the dead."

Zhang Fan found a sleeping bag, and the two of them worked together to put the stiff "Bob" inside and tie him up securely. Then, they launched the body into space through the space debris disposal outlet on the "Firebird".

Su Muran went back and packed some things before heading to the Apollo spaceship to meet up with Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan is moving a hibernation pod into the spacecraft's cargo hold.

Why are you moving this?

“I need to use the plan Liao Changtian gave me, so I took it with me while I was here,” Zhang Fan replied as he carried the equipment. “The medical equipment on the ‘Firebird’ is much more advanced than that on the ‘Vulcan’s’, it’s been a great help, I don’t need to build another hospital.”

The "Firebird" has a life support cabin, a medical cabin, and a scientific research and testing cabin. When these three are combined, it is almost a complete hospital.

"What plan? Who is Liao Changtian? What hospital will be built?"

I'll explain when we get back to the 'Bird's Nest'.

Everything was ready, and the two sat in the cockpit of the Apollo spacecraft.

Zhang Fan piloted the spacecraft away from the Soyuz space station, and Su Muran, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned her head to look at him.

"When did you learn to pilot a spaceship?"

"I just learned it, I just learned it."

"I'm telling you, aren't you going to tell me about the woman you're hiding on Mars first?"